An improvement notice has been issued to Kent CC after it failed to turn around its special educational needs and disability (SEND) services.
The Department for Education said the council had ‘failed to make sufficient progress’ in addressing nine areas of weakness highlighted in inspections by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
In the notice, published today, Kent has been told it must put together an improvement plan by 12 May to be overseen by an improvement board, including council chief executive David Cockburn, social care officers, education and health representatives and an independent chair.
The notice follows a joint revisit by the CQC and Ofsted in November, which found parent confidence in Kent’s SEND services was ‘at an all-time low’.
Council leader Roger Gough said at the time their report ‘makes uncomfortable and hugely disappointing reading’ and promised to ‘make things right’.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
